# Can I Turn My House into a Fortress? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279 "2008-02-12T14:42:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/1 "2008-02-12T14:42:57Z")
Suppose I owned a house out in the woods. Suppose further that I was a paranoid lunatic, and a fanatical loner. Ignoring, for the moment, such niceties as building codes and all that, is there anything in federal or state law (in any of the 50 states), prohibiting me from surrounding my house with a 12-foot high concrete fence, topped with razor wire, with motion-activated kleig (sp?) lights every few feet? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/2 "2008-02-12T14:47:18Z")
[QUOTE=HeyHomie] Suppose I owned a house out in the woods. Suppose further that I was a paranoid lunatic, and a fanatical loner. Ignoring, for the moment, such niceties as building codes and all that, is there anything in federal or state law (in any of the 50 states), prohibiting me from surrounding my house with a 12-foot high concrete fence, topped with razor wire, with motion-activated kleig (sp?) lights every few feet? [/QUOTE] As long as we’re discounting building codes, probably not. That said, I feel compelled to mention that if anything is likely to _attract_ attention, particularly the federal-agency kind, it would be building your own fortress, especially if you throw some firearms in there. See Waco, Ruby Creek, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/3 "2008-02-12T15:15:22Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] That said, I feel compelled to mention that if anything is likely to _attract_ attention, particularly the federal-agency kind, it would be building your own fortress, especially if you throw some firearms in there. See Waco, Ruby Creek, etc. [/QUOTE] Indeed, and that response is ancient. It’s well-known that the policy of many mediaeval kings was to destroy castles from which vassals might challenge them. For slightly different reasons, Robert the Bruce had a policy of destroying castles in territory he wanted to hold, on the grounds that the English could retake them with larger armies than he could raise, then hold them with small garrisons. Central government is usually offended by private fortifications. Sailboat ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/4 "2008-02-12T15:25:02Z")
Certain things like booby traps and minefields are illegal, and if someone gets killed by a booby trap you set you could be on the hook for murder. But concrete walls and concertina wire? What’s the problem with that? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/5 "2008-02-12T15:25:14Z")
I would do it in Alaska. They have few building codes and all the land you could ever want even if you don’t own all the land yourself. I don’t think it would an issue beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/6 "2008-02-12T15:29:43Z")
If I were building a fortress, I’d make it a bunker that blended well or was camoflaged, maybe even put a regular old house on top of it to make it look normal. But beneath that placid facade would be state of the art surveillance and a bomb-proof survival chamber that could see me through a 10 year standoff/nuclear fallout. If I won the lottery or something. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/7 "2008-02-12T15:42:36Z")
I think if you tried to build a volcano in which to hide your fortress you would run afoul of a lot of environmental legislation. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/8 "2008-02-12T15:55:06Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] I think if you tried to build a volcano in which to hide your fortress you would run afoul of a lot of environmental legislation. [/QUOTE] And you’d have to get a white cat of extreme fluffiness and a scar around one eye. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/9 "2008-02-12T16:03:54Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] If I were building a fortress, I’d make it a bunker that blended well or was camoflaged, maybe even put a regular old house on top of it to make it look normal. But beneath that placid facade would be state of the art surveillance and a bomb-proof survival chamber that could see me through a 10 year standoff/nuclear fallout. If I won the lottery or something. [/QUOTE] Agreed 100 percent. I would go for the “underground” route, building several sub-basements accessible by tunnels under the main house, armored with steel and concrete (but furnished lavishly, with lots of wood paneling, oriental rugs and mounted elk’s heads and bookshelves filled with old leather-bound volumes and pool tables and shit like that. There would also be a room stocked with automatic rifles, grenades, and enough rounds of ammunition to kill thousands of any idiots foolish enough to try to attack me. If I ever amass enough money to do this, it will definitely become a reality. ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/10 "2008-02-12T16:31:00Z")
“Food for five years, a thousand gallons of gas, air filtration, water filtration, Geiger counter. Bomb shelter! Underground… God damn monsters” 🙂 Sorry - the opportunity to use that quote only comes along so often. -rainy ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/11 "2008-02-12T16:44:43Z")
I dunno. If I had the money, I’d be more likely to build a space station. Give it some kind of technology that makes it invisible to radar, and stock it with supermodels with whom I’d eventually repopulate the Earth. Any suave British spies would be taken out and shot before I lifted off, and I’d be careful _not_ to say anything that might make any of my minions think they’d have no place in my postapocalyptic orbital paradise. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/12 "2008-02-12T16:59:03Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Agreed 100 percent. I would go for the “underground” route, building several sub-basements accessible by tunnels under the main house, armored with steel and concrete (but furnished lavishly, with lots of wood paneling, oriental rugs and mounted elk’s heads and bookshelves filled with old leather-bound volumes and pool tables and shit like that. There would also be a room stocked with automatic rifles, grenades, and enough rounds of ammunition to kill thousands of any idiots foolish enough to try to attack me. If I ever amass enough money to do this, it will definitely become a reality. [/QUOTE] Your name isn’t Farnham, is it? OK, his wasn’t that fancy, but it was underground. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/13 "2008-02-12T16:59:18Z")
Why build one when you can [buy one](http://www.silohome.com/) that was good enough for Uncle Sam at one point in time? Sure, there’s no razor wire fence or whatnot, but I think that a nuclear missle silo under your house is as good as you’re going to get. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/14 "2008-02-12T17:01:07Z")
[QUOTE=rainy] Sorry - the opportunity to use that quote only comes along so often. [/QUOTE] “Broke into the wrong got-damn rec room, dincha?” ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/15 "2008-02-12T17:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] …and bookshelves filled with old leather-bound volumes and pool tables… [/QUOTE] How many pool tables can you fit in the book shelves? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/16 "2008-02-12T17:44:58Z")
[QUOTE=Valgard] How many pool tables can you fit in the book shelves? [/QUOTE] Depends how many books you own 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/17 "2008-02-12T17:52:02Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Agreed 100 percent. I would go for the “underground” route, building several sub-basements accessible by tunnels under the main house, armored with steel and concrete (but furnished lavishly, with lots of wood paneling, oriental rugs and mounted elk’s heads and bookshelves filled with old leather-bound volumes and pool tables and shit like that. There would also be a room stocked with automatic rifles, grenades, and enough rounds of ammunition to kill thousands of any idiots foolish enough to try to attack me. If I ever amass enough money to do this, it will definitely become a reality. [/QUOTE] I agree too. Whom the gods notice, they destroy. ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/18 "2008-02-12T18:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] If I were building a fortress, I’d make it a bunker that blended well or was camoflaged, maybe even put a regular old house on top of it to make it look normal. But beneath that placid facade would be state of the art surveillance and a bomb-proof survival chamber that could see me through a 10 year standoff/nuclear fallout. If I won the lottery or something. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but then you’d have to kill all the people that built it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/19 "2008-02-12T19:02:28Z")
[QUOTE=J Cubed] Yeah, but then you’d have to kill all the people that built it for you. [/QUOTE] I think that’s only required if you expect to go to heaven. **Argent** , of course, need not apply 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279/20 "2008-02-12T22:40:55Z")
It’s pretty common to see ten or twelve foot walls topped by broken glass or metal spikes in New Orleans’ French Quarter, so I don’t know why razor wire would be any worse. And motion activated lights are common as well. The klieg lights might be considered a nuisance, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-turn-my-house-into-a-fortress/437279.md?page=2)